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Secondly, he had to off-load those players who were surplus to requirements and that process has also been completed.

And thirdly, and this is the hardest task, he needs to rebuild a side which will be capable of succeeding in the Championship.

That phase of his job is on-going and it's probably proving much more difficult than he imagined.

The problem McInnes has is attracting the quality of players to Bristol.

I've spoken before about how difficult it is to sell the city to players. Many see Bristol as being on the outskirts of the footballing world and feel that a move to these parts sends a signal out that they are no longer at the centre of things.

McInnes is trying to persuade players that this idea couldn't be further from the truth.

He will be pointing out to potential targets that the club has great ambitions and is going places under his leadership.

The board are truly behind him and in Steve Lansdown the club has a majority shareholder who is committed wholeheartedly to the success of the club.

And while questions still remain over the building of a new stadium, there is no doubt there is a collective will to improve things both on and off the pitch. I like the signings that McInnes has already made – they are quality players who will bring both excitement and skill to the club.

Players like Paul Anderson, pictured, from Nottingham Forest who learnt his trade as Liverpool youth academy player and goal keeper Tom Heaton who was a trainee at Manchester United.

These are the types of footballers that McInnes is after and they also act to send out a message to others that here is a manager and a club that means business going forward.

But the fans really do have to give McInnes a bit of time. Everything wasn't rosy in the Ashton Gate garden when he arrived but he is beginning to turn things around.

The fans need to realise that here is a man who will do a good job, he is the right man for Bristol City at the right time.

They need to get behind him and his team because I think that they are going to need their support for the first few weeks until those new signings fall into place.

Turning to Bristol Rovers, it is a similar story. Mark McGhee, like McInnes, was brought in last season to steady what was a distinctly rocky ship. There were real fears that Rovers could plunge out of the Football League and into the Conference.

I remember writing in The Post of the fans' very real fears over the actual existence of their club.

And like McInnes, McGhee has done a fantastic job in allaying those fears and giving the fans something to look forward to.

McGhee has gone about his business quietly in the close season and that is down to the position that Rovers find themselves in.

They haven't got wads of money to splash out on players – they are just not in that market at the moment.

But what McGhee is doing is picking up players who he knows will do a job for the club.

The capture of David Clarkson from neighbours City is a classic move.

Here is someone who perhaps didn't want a transfer to a club far away and was only too glad to be given a chance so close to his home.

Clarkson is a proven goal-scorer and I believe will be a potent signing for Rovers as McGhee begins his rebuilding. McGhee admits that the rebuilding of the side will not be completed overnight and again he is asking fans to be patient.

I think that is right, because McGhee is the right man in the right place for Rovers. He has taken a club out of League Two in the past – Brighton in 2006 – and has the pedigree to do so again.

Rovers fans, like the red half of the city, need patience and to get behind McGhee and his team this season.

When it comes to both City and Rovers, I will be the first to voice concerns over performances if they fall below what the fans expect.

But I also think that both sets of fans have a duty to really get behind their clubs.

These are not easy times in the footballing business, the new financial regulations which are being brought in to safeguard the long-term future of the game will have an impact on all clubs.

The new season is a time of hope and celebration for both sets of fans so let's get behind both teams.

Comments

marmeliser wrote "one thing i HAVE noticed in the last few years is how little interest there is at a media level in city (none in the gas). it's reflected in how few times city get games shown on sky!!"
happy for you to speak for the Robins but leave the gas alone. we were actually live on TV several times last season (1st game of season vs AFC Wimbledon, & FA Cup vs Villa)
We were on terrestrial TV every few weeks in 2009 for an FA Cup run, and even on a few imes in 2009 / 10.

Playing for City didn't do Andy Cole, Clive Whitehead, Gerry Gow, Bob Taylor & Nick Maynard any harm and one of our biggest problems has been getting players to leave or move away!
@ CharlesBridge:
Christian Roberts was a self confessed Alchoholic while he was playing and Noble was "well known" on the night club scene!We got Trundle 3 seasons to late.
@ RedNemesis_1
We have many players who are OK-What we need is even one or two who are in the good to excellent range and that's difficult.
Heaton-No better than Gerken
Wilson-About the same as Foster but good cover
Cunningham-Better/An improvement
Morris-Not as good as Cisse, Skuse or Elliott
Anderson-All three other wingers have strated before him.
I'm unexcited and until we bring the playmaker in (Hopefully we'll get the striker and rcb)we won't be able to provide the ammunition to striker with goal record of 1:2.5 & decent NPC Wingers.
Our goal scoring hasn't been good for years and when our defence went pearshaped, particularly last season, it was almost fatal.
Anderson

I was optimistic before Tuesday, i still am relatively optimistic just not as much after that extremely poor performance! But i still feel we can go on and have a comfortable mid-table finish, dont expect anything stupid like play-offs, im optimistic, but staying realistic. We've signed some good players; Cunningham, Heaton, Anderson and Mark Wilson have all impressed me. Still yet to be impressed by Jody Morris, other than his crunching tackle when he come on again the Gas.
The signings, for once, are actually first team quality. Think there is still a few players in our team that aren't of Championship standard; Pearson, Woolford and i've seen Foster have a few tough games.
Having Elliott back fit is great for us, gives us something back into midfield. The defence is still quite shoddy but i believe we just need to sort out the right-sided center back position and we may be okay! Bringing in Cunningham for LB is a truely amazing signing for a team of are stature (especially on a 4 year deal!) looks like a bright-prospect for us - the fact he's already at international standard says a lot, he's only 20! Very impressed by him.
We really need to bring in a striker that will grab us goals and give us some pace in the final third. Someone to make the runs off of Steads knock down and when Stead holds the ball up.
Feel it's a shame with all the speculation about Bolasie handing in a transfer request and him not being placed in the squad at all today against Nottingham Forest. We need to keep one of him or Adomah, we can't let both go, that would be disastorous.
So bring in a striker, Dj Campbell maybe, and a nice strong right footed defender (speculation of Andre Amougou [still] and McManus from Boro') and i feel we could in fact be looking at breaking into the top half of the table!
I say it again, i am realistically optimistic about this season, cannot wait to see how it pans out! Come on Del Boy, do your magic! I have faith in you, i feel you are a good manager and have grown my respect, i was uneasy about you taking charge when you did, but i feel it was the right decision at the moment! Bring in some more players and build for the future and get a nice stable side!
COME ON YOU REDS! THERE'S ONLY ONE TEAM IN BRISTOL!

As a City fan, I am realistic about our chances in the Championship. Gary Johnson under-estimated the amount of pressure that he would be under, after reaching the play-off final. The players he brought in, perhaps didn't have the hunger for success, and he let Richard Keogh go, and he is one of the most capable centre backs in the division now.
The calibre of players Derek has brought in is reassuring, but City still need two more strikers one of whom must be able to get 20 goals a season for us. I am happy to give Mark Wilson a chance, he has much experience and composure in defence. I think much work needs to be done, but Derek has made a good start, and I trust him to build a decent squad.

Just seen on one website that City have all but signed DJ Campbell from QPR. Wages could be the final stumbling block - but hey if it's true that has to be a good move. Can only assume that Albert must be going to Swansea to fund the transfer - but if SL has put his hand in his pocket and we are going to keep AA then it could yet turn out to be a half decent season.

I was going to make some of the points made by RedNemesis.
The city is a very agreeable place to live which is shown by the numerous players who have arrived from other parts of the country down the years and made Bristol their home when they've retired from football.
Because it possesses such a pleasant environment there are other things to do to tempt the locals which helps to explain why there is not the passion for football or for local pro sport generally seen elsewhere in the country. I readily accept that there is a small nucleus of die-hard fans who are passionate about their club (same applies to Rovers) but the numbers are relatively small.
In the North and Midlands workers had little to entertain themselves with, except the pub, and when pro football began to take shape in the last years of the 19th Century and the early years of the 20th the game became an immediate outlet for a couple of hours from the toil and misery of the factory.
Bristol was not a huge industrial city. It used to have many lighter industries but even in 1900 was an altogether much more pleasant place to live than the major cities further north, hence less of a need for football as source of comfort for a couple of hours each week (Perhaps perversely, Bristol has always punched its weight in the number of amateur football clubs and players).
And so it's been ever since. Add this to the average West Counrty person's more reserved nature and again passion suffers.
Although the city is the second most prosperous UK city after London, one of the leading English core cities and almost always in the top three UK cities for relocation in surveys, when it comes to pro sport, and football is the major pro sport in this country, it is a minnow.
I can understand therefore what Leroy is saying. However, because Bristol is so close to the capital one might think that this would to some extent allay players' concerns about coming to a football backwater, as in a way the city is a distant suburb of London and will become closer with rail electrification.
I think a greater obstacle to players wanting to come here is the stringent economic policy now being applied by the ownership, but that is another argument.

I think we are all behind DM, for me the failed tenure of the lost Lansdown years is the essence of our demise. Unable to push the boat out on one or two game changing players he will only ever spend the same money on a team that are cast offs, never will be's and journeymen.
It's really interesting to think about one fact to see how shockingly dire things are at Ashton Gate, think back to who the players are in your own memory that can be classed as really great city players, Rednamesis did just that above, all from pre-Lansdown times. Our team for many seasons have been far less than average, I enjoyed watching Christian Roberts, Nobel, Trundle was a fun player but too old and slow, there have been few others.
When you talk about Bob Taylor in the 90's we some real true competitors along side him in the team, going back to Terry Cooper who I think was by far the best manager we have had in decades he built a team of players with very little who for me were a joy to watch. But....
Times have changed, you could buy a house then for 30K, all is relitive, you need a lot more money now for everything, bcfc need a serious backer who grasps that he will need to pay what it costs for talent. the backer we have will need to changes his ways or we will have to change our backer.

one thing i HAVE noticed in the last few years is how little interest there is at a media level in city (none in the gas). it's reflected in how few times city get games shown on sky!!
what bristol has got going for it is being a lovely place to live and be. part of that should be at least ONE successful football club. city have at least achieved several season in 'tier 2'. if they lose that then the whole possibilities go backwards again - and mcinnes would probably go.
the tragedy is - and i repeat myself for the umpteenth time - is that there are precious few footballing success stories associated with city. there ARE witrh the city itself - well 'almost' - as scott sinclair and jack butland came from nearby. but of course, as always, city missed out on the major local talent.
the simple equation is - success attracts quality. if city are top 6 come december then plenty of decent players will be clamouring to come here. bottom 6 - which i think more likely - then they won't

PS Did Andy Cole view Bristol City as a backwater when he left Arsenal?
Did Jacki Dziekanowski view Bristol City as a backwater when he left Celtic?
Did Bob Taylor view Bristol City as a backwater when he left Leeds?
Did Jan Moller view Bristol City as a backwater when he left the European Cup finalists Malmo?